Method and apparatus for controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for building a database of content objectionable scenes of an audiovisual work, and a method and apparatus which uses the database to control reproduction of the work. The database may be stored on a server and made available to clients which control an audiovisual reproduction apparatus through a direct dial-up or Internet connection.

1 . A method of creating a playback database for an audiovisual work, the method comprising: 
 assigning a respective content ratings level to at least a portion of a scene of the work;    creating a database containing information identifying the at least a portion of the scene and the content ratings level; and    storing the database on a storage medium different from the medium that stores the audiovisual work.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the assigning act is performed in response to ratings level inputs from a reviewer.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating the database containing identifying information which identifies those scenes having content ratings levels which are less than or equal to a predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating the database containing identifying information that identifies those scenes having content ratings levels that are greater than a predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said the act of creating includes creating a database containing information identifying content ratings levels for all scenes of a work.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating a database that contains data indicating which scenes of the work are to be reproduced.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating a database that contains data indicating which scenes of the work are not to be reproduced.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating a database containing information identifying the at least a portion of the scene by a frame number.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of creating includes creating a database containing information identifying the at least a portion of the scene by a time stamp.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of storing the database includes storing the database on a server computer which allows the database to be accessible to client computers.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of storing the database includes storing the database on a portable storage medium.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of storing the database includes storing the database on a removable computer readable disk.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of storing the database includes storing the database on a storage medium accessible to an audiovisual work reproduction unit.  
     
     
         14 . A method of creating a playback database for an audiovisual work, the method comprising: 
 assigning a respective content ratings level to at least a portion of a scene of the work;    creating a database containing information identifying the at least a portion of the scene and the content ratings level; and    uploading the database to an Internet server independently of the work.    
     
     
         15 . A method of controlling reproduction of an audiovisual work, the method comprising 
 accessing a database stored on a storage medium different from the medium that stores the audiovisual work, the database containing information identifying at least a portion of a scene of the work having an assigned content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to a predetermined content ratings level; and    reproducing scenes of the work in accordance with the at least a portion of a scene which are identified in the database.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising reading an audiovisual work from a first storage medium.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the act of accessing includes reading the database from a second storage medium.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the act of accessing comprises establishing a connection to a server containing the database and downloading the database into a controller which controls reproduction of the work, the controller using the information in the database to control reproduction of the work.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the act of accessing includes establishing a connection to an Internet server, whereby the connection is an Internet connection.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the act of accessing includes establishing a dial-up connection.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the act of accessing includes accessing a database containing information identifying those scenes having a content ratings level which is less than or equal to the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the act of accessing includes accessing a database containing information indicating those scenes having a content ratings level which is greater than the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the act of accessing includes accessing a database containing data indicating which scenes of the work are to be reproduced.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the act of accessing includes accessing a database containing data indicating which scenes of the work are not to be reproduced.  
     
     
         25 . An apparatus for creating a playback database for an audiovisual works, the apparatus comprising: 
 a reproduction unit for reproducing scenes of the work;    an input device for assigning a ratings level corresponding to a degree of objectionable content to at least a portion of a scene of the work;    a device for creating a database containing an identification of the at least a portion of the scene having an assigned content ratings level; and    a storage medium different from the medium that stores the audiovisual work for storing the database.    
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 25 , further comprising a server, the database being stored on a storage medium of the server.  
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the storage medium is a portable storage medium.  
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 27  wherein the storage medium is a removable computer readable disk.  
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the device assigns an input content ratings level to each scene of the work.  
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the input device receives inputs from a movie reviewer and the database is stored on a storage medium accessible to a work reproduction unit in a household.  
     
     
         31 . The apparatus of  claim 30  wherein the database contains ratings level information for all scenes of the work.  
     
     
         32 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the database contains data indicating which scenes of the work are to be reproduced.  
     
     
         33 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the database contains data indicating which scenes of the work are not to be reproduced.  
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having a content ratings level which is less than or equal to the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 25  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having a content ratings level which is greater than the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         36 . An apparatus for controlling playback of an audiovisual work, the apparatus comprising: 
 a device for accessing a database stored at a first location, the database containing an identification of those scenes of the work having a content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to a predetermined content ratings level; and    a reproduction unit for reproducing scenes of the work from a second location in accordance with scenes which are identified in the database.    
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of  claim 36 , further comprising a device for accessing the database by way of an Internet connection.  
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of  claim 36 , further comprising a device for accessing the database by way of a dial-up connection.  
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the access device includes a controller for controlling the reproduction unit, the controller using the information contained in the database to control reproduction of the work by the reproduction unit.  
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 39  wherein the controller is a computer.  
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having a content ratings level which is less than or equal to the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having content ratings level which is greater than the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the database contains data indicating which scenes of the work are to be reproduced.  
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the data contains data indicating which scenes of the work are not to be reproduced.  
     
     
         45 . An audiovisual playback apparatus, comprising: 
 an audiovisual reproduction unit adapted to read an audiovisual work from an audiovisual medium;    a recording medium separate from the audiovisual medium; and    a database stored on the recording medium, the database containing information identifying scenes of the audiovisual work which have a content ratings level which bears a predetermined relationship to a predetermined content ratings level, the identifying information being usable to control the audiovisual reproduction unit to reproduce selected scenes of the audiovisual work.    
     
     
         46 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having a content ratings level which is less than or equal to the predetermined objectionable content ratings level.  
     
     
         47 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the identifying information identifies those scenes having a content ratings level which is greater than the predetermined content ratings level.  
     
     
         48 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the database contains data indicating which scenes of the work are to be reproduced.  
     
     
         49 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the database contains data indicating which scenes of the work are not to be reproduced.  
     
     
         50 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the audiovisual playback apparatus does not include the audiovisual medium.  
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the act of storing the database includes storing the database on an Internet server which allows access to the database over the Internet.